Dear Partner in Preaching, This “epilogue” to John’s dramatic and symbolic Gospel, while perhaps not part of the “original” Gospel, nevertheless does not disappoint. Indeed, it provides a clue not only to the questions and fate of this early Christian community but sheds light on key elements of our life as disciples today. Scholars have posited a variety of reasons for this additional chapter: questions about the fate of the “beloved disciple,” the need to rehabilitate Peter as the Johannine community moved closer to other communities more familiar with Peter’s significant role in the early church, the need to “position”...

Dear Partner in Preaching, I am writing from a family cottage on the shores of Otsego Lake, in Cooperstown, NY, a place my family has come for more than a century. In this setting, and after a night’s sleep to the sound of gently lapping waves and anticipating a day of fun on the water with my kids, I’m inclined to write, as I did three years ago, on the importance of rest, of Sabbath, and of the role of the church to provide and encourage restorative rest. And, indeed, I am most grateful for this time of rest and recreation. Yet – perhaps precisely because I’ve had a few days rest after a pretty intense year – I will instead write...

This will sound like a rather odd recommendation, but here it is. I find Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, a little full of himself. I’d heard the advice to start with questions of purpose and passion years ago, well before he wrote his book, so the idea that he invented or came up with all this is, well, a bit much. And his work with brain science feels at the same time both oversimplified and overstated. Finally, while he may be a perfectly lovely human being, he comes across as a bit self-important. Having said all that, I’d still encourage you to watch his TED Talk, based on his...

Do you feel called? Two things prompt this question: 1) As I’ve talked with both clergy and everyday Christians (my preferred term to lay people), I’ve been struck by a deep divide over the issue of vocation. Not about whether vocation is a great idea – who could argue that all Christians are called by God in Baptism to participate with God in caring for the world. Rather, the divide is two-fold. First, most pastors feel called by God to what they do, while most everyday Christians do not. Second, most pastors assume their people feel called, in part because they preach and teach about vocation, while most everyday Christians...